Writer Leon Uris was born in Baltimore on August 3, 1924. He dropped out of school to join the Marines during World War II, but later returned to attend Baltimore City College.
His first novel, Battle Cry (1953), was based on his time as a marine. He followed it with a series of New York Times bestsellers, including The Angry Hills, Exodus, Topaz, and Trinity. QB VII was adapted into a TV mini-series starring Ben Gazzara and Anthony Hopkins. Uris has also written non-fiction (including Ireland: A Terrible Beauty and Jerusalem: Song of Songs) and screenplays (Battle Cry and Gunfight at the O. K. Corral). He has won the John F. Kennedy Memorial Award from the Irish-American Society and the Scopus Award from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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